Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Russ Barenberg

9:41 AM Wesman Todd Shaw No comments


Russ Barenberg

I don't really know much about Russ Barenberg off hand, but I want to take a minute or several before I bust out big daddy Google and some old guitar magazines to find out and refresh myself on his subject - to tell you all about how my life has benefited from the music that this man has made in the past.
No really - the music of Russ Barenberg has made a HUGE bit of difference in my life! Let me explain:
I'd been such a shy youth that it was literally the monster in my life to be overcome. I'd arranged to perform in the school talent show my senior year, and up until the moment when the curtain was drawn and it was my turn to play on stage in front of the four or five hundred persons in the audience - I was just as ready to bolt as to perform. But I didn't run, I performed, and I kicked the ying yang out of the medley of tunes I'd rehearsed so thoroughly. The medley was started off with a complex "floating" arrangement, and segued into Russ Barenberg's Irish war songs "Keep It Up / Prince Charlie."
I can't play those things now at all - my fingers aren't in shape enough for it - and were it not for a very beautiful young woman that could sing beautifully too, I'd have won the competition. If you're interested in hearing the Irish war tunes I've referred to by Russ Barenberg, then I've got a link to his Myspace music page where you can hear the whole tune, or a link where you can get a bit of a sample.

A Younger Russ Barenberg.

Purchase The Music Of Russ Barenberg!

When at Last
When at Last
Amazon Price: $11.71
List Price: $17.99
Teach Yourself Bluegrass Guitar
Teach Yourself Bluegrass Guitar
Amazon Price: $11.10
List Price: $17.99
When At Last
When At Last
Amazon Price: $8.99
Teach Yourself Bluegrass Guitar
Teach Yourself Bluegrass Guitar
Amazon Price: $17.95
Skip Hop & Wobble
Skip Hop & Wobble
Amazon Price: $11.41
List Price: $17.98
A Flatpickers Guide To Better Playing
A Flatpickers Guide To Better Playing
Amazon Price: $16.65
List Price: $29.95

Russ Barenberg

Russ Barenberg has his own website with a great bio that would be pointless for me to imitate, or copy from - but suffice it to say that he's well known to have been a huge fan of the late Clarence White, the phenom who'd blown so many minds with his acoustic guitar playing withThe Kentucky Colonels, and then moved on to blowing more minds with electric guitar innovations and his playing with The Byrds.
Nothing exceptional about that - everyone in acoustic music was in awe of Clarence White,but withCountry Cooking, a sort of Bluegrass super group - Russ Barenberg made a name for himself. I think thatCountry Cooking was where most any of us first heard Russ Barenberg.
Of course Russ Barenberg has many another fine solo recording, and I used to own at least one of them on cassette tape. I might hit up a peer to peer program and see what I can find for him - not that I'd not want to pay the man for his music, but it's more that I'm paying a tribute here, and own a computer, and precious little else in this world. But I've digressed.
What I didn't know until today was that Russ Barenberg had been involved with a very fine film project, and on the musical end of it, of course. Most folks who are into knowledge or education and like to experience and gain those things from a film format know who Ken Burns is. It's sad that the ilk that control the mainstream media are in conjunction with the globalist banker cartel - the same that controls the White House, and the criminals in the US congress.
But whatever, Russ Barenberg participated in the soundtrack of Ken Burns' documentary The Civil War.

Russ Barenberg - Melodic Flatpicking.

Russ Barenberg represents everything that is great in flatpicking the acoustic steel string guitar. The instrument itself, the steel string dreadnought, was created for accompaniment or rhythm, and not for the playing of leads. Russ Barenberg plays a very tasteful rhythm, and his very tasteful and melodic style of playing leads seems to flow naturally from the Irish and Scottish fiddle tune melodies that modern Bluegrass originated from.
Of course Russ Barenberg and his music aren't exclusive to traditional Scotch Irish fiddle tunes, Russ Barenberg also writes and performs his own original music based upon those traditions, and also other styles as well. Of course my personal experiences with his music - as already detailed above, leads me to favour very much the Celtic melodic styles.
In any case, it's my pleasure to honour the music of Russ Barenberg here.

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